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SEYMOUR    DURST 


FORT     NEW    AMSTERDAM. 


"NEW   YORK  )  ,      1651 


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Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


THE  JAMES  FOUNTAIN 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/jamesfountainproOOjame 


THE  JAMES  FOUNTAIN 


THE   PROCEEDINGS   AT   THE   PRESENTATION 


UNION    SQUARE,    NEW   YORK 


TUESDAY,    OCTOBER     25,    1881 


PRINTED    FOR    PRIVATE    DISTRIBUTION 


NEW  YORK 

ANSON  D.  F.  RANDOLPH  &  COMPANY 

900  Broadway,  cor.  20th  Street 


site; 


LIBRARY  OF  THE 

Union  Theological  Seminary 

NEW  YORK  CITY 

PRESENTED  BY 

/JUL  fcunila  *f?  A  /.'  J'-  JiaJtUxao, 
1      APRS8  19V4 


rf55 


INTRODUCTORY. 


THE  JAMES  FOUNTAIN. 

The  project  of  erecting  a  Drinking  Fountain  in 
one  of  the  public  parks  of  New  York  City  was  laid 
before  the  Commissioners  of  Public  Parks  by  Mr.  D. 
Willis  James,  several  years  since,  and  after  due  deliber- 
ation, the  Board  decided  upon  the  present  location 
on  the  west  side  of  Union  Square. 

The  gift  will,  it  is  hoped,  besides  ministering  to 
physical  comfort,  contribute  to  the  artistic  wealth  of 
the  city,  and  in.,  its  moral  import,  suggest  lessons  of 
kindness  and  charity.  The  work  was  contracted  for 
in  Stuttgart,  Germany,  on  the  ioth  of  May,  1877,  and 
the  model  was  executed  by  Adolf  Donndorf,  Pro- 
fessor of  Sculpture  in  the  Art  Academy  of  that  city. 
The  casting  was  done  in  the  bronze  foundry  of  G. 
Howaldt,  in  the  City  of  Brunswick,  and  the  granite 
was  imported  from  the  quarries  in  Sweden,  of  which 
Messrs.  Kessel  &  Rohl,  of  Berlin,  are  the  proprietors. 

Adolf  Donndorf,  the  artist  who  executed  the 
sculptural  work,  is  a  pupil  of  Ernst  Rietschel,  who 
died  in  the  City  of  Dresden  in  i860,  and  whose  fame 
is  chiefly  identified  with   the  magnificent  memorial 


6  The  James  Fountain. 

of  Martin  Luther  and  the  Reformation  now  standing 
in  Worms.  Rietschel  had  barely  completed  the  gen- 
eral plan  of  this  great  work  and  modelled  its  central 
figure  when  his  untimely  death  removed  from  earth 
one  of  the  foremost  sculptors  of  the  century. 

The  task  of  completing  the  Luther  monument  now 
devolved  chiefly  upon  Rietschel's  favorite  pupil, 
Adolf  Donndorf,  and  some  of  the  most  important  ac- 
cessory figures  of  this  renowned  memorial  in  bronze 
are  the  work  of  his  hand.  Prominent  among  these 
may  be  mentioned  the  "  Mourning  Magdeburg,"  the 
"Savonarola,"  and  "Peter  Waldus."  These  noble 
statues  gave  the  young  artist  a  European  fame,  and 
perhaps  no  living  sculptor  is  to-day  more  honored 
by  public  commissions  than  he. 

Among  his  later  works  the  monument  to  Peter 
Cornelius,  the  father  of  modern  German  painting, 
now  standing  in  Diisseldorf,  and  a  noble  memorial  of 
Schumann,  the  composer,  in  the  City  of  Bonn,  are 
worthy  of  especial  mention. 

Professor  Donndorf  is  at  present  (January,  1882) 
engaged  upon  the  statues  of  Bach  and  Goethe,  the 
latter  to  be  erected  in  Carlsbad.  During  a  period  of 
four  years,  with  only  brief  interruptions,  he  has  been 
occupied  upon  the  simple  group  of  this  Drinking 
Fountain  with  its  accessory  decorations,  and  it  is  his 
first  introduction  to  the  American  public. 


THE 

CEREMONIES    OF     PRESENTATION. 

Shortly  after  three  o'clock  on  the  after- 
noon of  Tuesday,  October  25,  1881,  a  large 
assemblage  had  gathered  in  Union  Square  to 
witness  the  unveiling  and  presentation  of  the 
Fountain. 

Among  those  who  occupied  positions  on 
the  stage  at  the  time  of  the  unveiling  were 
Mr.  D.  Willis  James;  Mayor  Grace;  Messrs, 
Lane,  Wales,  Mac  Lean,  and  Oliffe,  Com 
missioners  of  Public  Parks ;  the  Rev.  Drs, 
Roswell  D.  Hitchcock,  S.  Irenaeus  Prime 
Charles  F.  Deems,  J.  P.  Newman,  Howard  Cros 
by  ;  Professor  J.  Leonard  Corning,  John  A, 
Hamersly,  William  MacLeod,  curator  of  the 
Corcoran  Art  Gallery  at  Washington,  and 
Messrs.  Morris  K.  Jesup,  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr., 
Henry  E.  Pellew,  James  A.  Roosevelt,  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  Royal  Phelps,  Charles  L.  Brace, 
Robert  Hoe,  Jr.,  John  S.  Kennedy,  and  Robert 


8  The  James  Fountain. 

Vaux.  The  ceremonies  were  presided  over  by- 
Park  Commissioner  Smith  E.  Lane,  who,  with 
his  associates,  escorted  the  Mayor  and  the 
speakers  to  seats  upon  the  platform.  Mr.  Lane 
called  the  assembly  to  order,  and  then  spoke  as 
follows  : 

ADDRESS   OF 
MR.  COMMISSIONER  LANE. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — In  ancient  and 
in  modern  cities  fountains  have  been  character- 
istic works.  They  have  been  the  proper  works 
of  the  State,  and  when  erected  by  private 
citizens,  these  have  been  ranked  among  public 
benefactors.  At  first  they  served  purposes  of 
utility,  but  were  gradually  exalted  into  works 
of  art.  Other  fountains  we  have  of  various 
kinds.  The  one  beside  us  in  this  park,  simple 
spray  thrown  over  banks  of  lilies  and  water 
plants  ;  others,  like  the  one  in  front  of  the  City 
Hall,  the  one  in  Madison  Square,  and  that  be- 
fore the  Terrace  in  Central  Park,  enriched  with 
marble,  granite,  and  bronze.     You  are  about  to 


Address  of  Mr.   ( 'ommissioner  Lane.      9 

sec  unveiled  the  first  one  in  this  city  in  which 
art  dominates  wholly;  thanks  to  the  superior 
taste  and  munificence  of  its  donor.      You  will 

see  the  idealized  female  and  childlike  form,  as 
it  is  lifted  above  its  granite  base,  so  also  lifted 
above  all  utility  as  a  pure  work  of  art.  Art  is 
no  longer  subordinate,  but  pre-eminent. 

Fountains  arc  the  emblems  of  bounty  and  of 
plenty.  We  speak  of  the  fountains  of  life  and  of 
wealth,  and  the  idea  is  always  inspiriting  when 
it  addresses  us  by  the  sentiment  of  the  beauti- 
ful ;  and  so,  hereafter,  as  in  the  avocations  of 
life  we  pass  by  this  beautiful  visitor  speaking  to 
us  this  language,  let  us  thank  the  man  who, 
through  future  generations,  will  thus  add  daily 
to  the  happiness  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

This  is  another  donation  to  the  city  from  one 
person,  and  is  a  signal  example  to  his  class ; 
that  class  of  noble  public  benefactors  who  do 
not  belong  to  ancient  lineage,  to  the  Church  or 
to  the  State,  but  whom  Providence  keeps  up  in 
an  unbroken  succession. 

I  have  now  the  honor  to  present  to  you  the 
donor,  Mr.  D.  Willis  James. 


io  The  James  Fountain. 

PRESENTATION  ADDRESS  OF 
MR.  JAMES. 

Mr.  President,  Mr.  Mayor,  Ladies  and 
Gentlemen  : — A  considerable  number  of  years 
ago  my  valued  friend,  whose  memory  will  ever 
be  fragrant  in  this  community — the  late  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt — and  I  had  planned  to  unite  in 
presenting  to  the  City  of  New  York  a  Bronze 
Drinking  Fountain,  believing  that  it  would 
have  a  useful  and  beneficent  ministry.  His 
lamented  death  prevented  the  execution  of  our 
plans. 

After  long  and  unlooked-for  delays,  the 
privilege  of  bringing  to  completion  the  plan 
then  formed  is  given  to  me  to-day. 

If,  Mr.  President,  the  Bronze  now  to  be  un- 
covered shall  give  to  any  citizen  any  part  of  the 
pleasure  it  has  given  to  me  to  have  it  prepared, 
and  especially  if  it  shall  be  the  means  of  kind- 
ling in  any  heart  that  spirit  of  Love — Charity 
— it  is  intended  to  illustrate,  I  shall  indeed  be 
more  than  compensated. 

Mr.  Mayor,  as  the  official  representative  of 


.  Iddress  of  Mayor   (i race.  I  I 

the  City  of  New  York,  I  beg  to  tender  to  you 
my  grateful  thanks  for  the  privilege  of  present- 
ing this  Fountain  now  to  be  unveiled. 

The  Fountain  was  then  unveiled  by  Professor 
Corning-,  and  the  gift  accepted  in  behalf  of  the 
city  by  His  Honor  the  Mayor. 


ADDRESS  OF 

MAYOR    GRACE. 

Permit  me,  sir,  in  the  name  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  to  accept  at  your  hands  this  Fount- 
ain, the  usefulness  of  which  we  lose  sight  of  in 
contemplating  its  rare  beauty.  Much  as  the 
city  must  prize  your  gift,  it  must  prize  still  more 
the  spirit  in  which  it  is  given  ;  for  it  betokens  a 
pride  of  city  which  grows  out  of  loving  citizen- 
ship, and  which  would  see  New  York  as  rich  in 
art  treasures  as  any  city  in  the  world.  We  no 
longer  drink  spring-water  out  of  beechen  cups, 
but  whoever  comes  to  this  Fountain  will,  I 
trust,  find  the  water,  not  less,  but  more,  sweet, 
forasmuch  as  it  is  drunk  in  the  presence  of  a 


12  The  James  Fountain. 

genuine  work  of  art  which  has  been  given  to 
our  city  by  a  man  who  loves  our  city. 

Your  benevolence  has  not  stopped  here,  how- 
ever. The  city  is,  in  my  opinion,  still  more 
deeply  indebted  to  you  than  for  this  evidence 
of  your  public-spiritedness.  We  have  to  thank 
you  for  having  erected  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
city,  in  conjunction  with  other  liberal  gentle- 
men, a  row  of  model  tenement-houses,  which 
afford  comfortable  and  healthy  homes  to  the 
poor,  at  the  same  time  that  they  return  an  honest 
and  sufficient  revenue  for  the  money  invested. 
A  work  of  this  latter  kind  is  a  work  of  true  benev- 
olence as  contra-distinguished  from  charity,  for 
the  recipients  of  its  benefits  are  not  put  in  a  po- 
sition of  humiliation,  but  are  permitted  to  retain 
their  self-respect  and  independence  by  paying 
an  honest  price  for  what  they  get.  The  merit 
of  the  undertaking  is,  that  it  affords  an  honest 
article,  which  the  great  mass  of  our  tenements 
are  not,  at  an  honest  rate.  This  I  regard  as  a 
most  meritorious  work,  and  while  in  the  name 
of  the  city  I  thank  the  generous  donor  for  this 
Fountain  which  beautifies  our  park,  I  cannot  re- 
frain from  thanking  him,  now  that  I  have  the 


Address  of  Professor   Corning,  13 

opportunity,  for  his  other  and  better  gift  to  the 
city,  for  such  F  consider  the  tenement-houses 
which  afford  not  only  inhabitable,  but  comfort- 
able homes  for  the  class  which  make  up  the  great 
body  of  our  citizens. 

Professor  Corning,  of  Morristown,  N.  J.,  was 
then  introduced,  and  spoke  as  follows  : 


ADDRESS  OF 
PROFESSOR    CORNING. 

This  late  autumnal  day  brings  desires  and 
hopes  long  deferred  to  happy  fruitage,  and  we 
all  give  thanks  to  the  kind  Providence  which 
has  spared  the  donor  of  this  beautiful  offering 
to  witness  its  dedication  to  the  public  good,  not 
alone  for  the  present,  but  for  coming  gener- 
ations. 

Unlike  a  great  multitude  of  conceptions  in 
the  world  of  artistic  symbolism,  the  work  before 
us  requires  no  explanation.  As  every  art  crea- 
tion ought  to,  which  is  intended  for  popular  use 


14  The  James  Fountain. 

and  culture,  it  tells  its  own  story,  which  "  he 
that  runs  may  read." 

For  ages  art  has  chosen  the  motherly  instinct 
made  visible  as  the  emblem  of  charity,  and  it 
will  not  tire  of  this  medium  of  revelation  and 
inspiration  to  the  end  of  time. 

The  simple  group  which  surmounts  this  con- 
tribution to  the  physical  comfort  of  the  people, 
claims,  then,  no  originality  in  its  conception, 
but  takes  its  modest  place  in  a  long  succession 
of  apostleship  honored  by  ancient  traditions  and 
approved  by  the  verdict  of  mankind.  As  a 
work  of  art  it  must  slowly  find  its  rank  at  the 
tribunal  of  impartial  criticism  ;  but  as  a  silent 
preacher  of  the  institutes  of  Christian  kindness 
and  love,  reaching  out  to  humanity  with  moth- 
erly regard,  and  conducting  thirsty  souls  to 
fountains  of  refreshment,  it  challenges  instant 
and  enduring  admiration. 

Just  these  few  words,  and  no  more,  concern- 
ing the  moral  significance  and  worth  of  the  gift 
which  we  dedicate  to-day.  And  now  for  the 
brief  moments  which  have  been  kindly  granted 
me,  how  can  one  better  serve  his  audience  and 
the    occasion  than  by  telling  the  story  of  its 


Address  <>/  Professor  Corning.  15 

passage  from  the  brain  and  heart  of  the  donor 
to  its  present  destination  ? 

Nearly  five  years  have  elapsed  since  a  little 
company  of  us,  three  in  number — the  most  im- 
portant two  thirds  being  the  donor  and  his  wife 
— chanced  to  meet  in  a  German  hotel,  and  un- 
der the  leadership  of  one  of  the  trio,  whose 
modest  words  we  have  just  listened  to,  the  con- 
versation turned  upon  the  project  of  a  drink- 
ing-fountain  which  should  realize  the  threefold 
intent  of  contributing  to  the  physical  comfort 
of  the  people,  and  at  the  same  time  teaching  a 
lesson  of  religion  and  cultivating  a  healthy  ap- 
preciation of  art.  Not  many  days  subsequently 
the  members  of  this  little  conference  separated, 
the  most  important  two  thirds  emigrating  to 
the  south  of  France  for  a  winter's  sojourn,  and 
the  residual  fraction  remaining  in  the  city  of 
Stuttgart.  In  this  beautiful  capital  of  the  little 
kingdom  of  Wlirtemberg  resides  Professor  Wil- 
helm  von  Liibke,  well  known  all  over  Europe, 
and  America  likewise,  as  the  most  popular  of 
living  historians  of  art,  a  critic  as  well,  whose 
judgment  in  his  department  is  nearly  supreme 
at   the    Svvabian    court.       In    the    perplexities 


1 6  The  James  Fountain. 

naturally  accompanying  the  practical  solution 
of  the  question,  this  was  a  fortunate  circum- 
stance, and  by  permission  of  him  who  had 
most  right  to  control,  the  counsel  of  the  learned 
professor.,  as  well  as  that  of  Dr.  Hemsen,  private 
librarian  of  the  King  of  Wiirtemberg,  was  sought. 
Upon  the  first  visit  to  Professor  Liibke's 
study  a  stranger  was  encountered,  whose  pres- 
ence proved  to  be  another  fortunate  link  in  the 
chain  of  circumstances  leading  to  the  happy 
conclusion  which  we  welcome  to-day.  This  was 
none  other  than  Professor  Adolf  Donndorf, 
lately  arrived  from  Dresden,  and  just  then  in- 
stalled as  head  of  the  department  of  sculpture 
in  the  Art  Academy  of  Stuttgart.  "  Right 
here  is  the  man  you  are  looking  for,"  said  Pro- 
fessor Liibke  ;  and  in  a  few  moments'  conversa- 
tion it  was  settled  that  the  young  artist,  who 
completed  the  Luther  Monument  at  Worms 
after  the  death  of  the  great  Rietschel,  should 
make  a  little  model  in  clay  of  a  drinking-fount- 
ain,  and  that  a  photograph  of  it  should  be  sent 
to  the  south  of  France  for  inspection  by  two 
pairs  of  eyes  belonging  to  the  authoritative 
members  of  the  first  conference. 


Address  of  Professor  Corning.  17 

In  a  few  days  a  small  model  of  the  upper  half 
of  the  sculptural  work  was  completed,  and  a 
picture  of  it  sent  to  the  proper  quarter  for  ap- 
proval. A  plan  of  the  bronze  postament  and 
the  granite  pedestal  followed,  and  after  a  pro- 
tracted correspondence  concerning  questions  of 
minor  detail,  the  contract  was  signed  in  Stutt- 
gart on  the  10th  of  May,  1877,  before  the 
American  consul  resident  in  that  city. 

The  little  clay  model  had  already  been  ex- 
hibited in  the  annual  exposition  of  the  Art 
Academy  in  the  Swabian  capital,  and  the  prob- 
able destination  of  the  completed  work  had 
been  announced  in  the  public  press  of  Germany. 
Two  and  a  half  years  was  the  period  within 
which  the  artist  contracted  that  his  work  should 
be  ready  for  erection.  But,  like  many  another 
work  which  has  been  the  fruit  of  conscientious 
toil  rather  than  mercenary  ambition,  it  lingered 
long  beyond  the  allotted  time,  and  thus  fulfilled 
a  moral  mission  superadded  to  its  intended  one, 
bringing,  to  wit,  a  large  discipline  of  exemplary 
patience  and  faith. 

It  would  have  been  easy  for  the  sculptor, 
laboring  merely  as  a  hireling,  to  have  fulfilled 


1 8  The  James  Fountain. 

the  letter  of  his  obligation  in  half  the  contracted 
period.  Art  studios  largely  favored  with  popu- 
lar patronage  not  seldom  degenerate  into  mere 
factories,  in  which  dispatch  and  pecuniary  profit 
are  manifestly  the  ends  chiefly  sought.  And 
surely,  if  ever  haste  and  superficiality  might  be 
pardoned,  it  would  be  in  a  composition  like  the 
one  before  us,  designed  for  outdoor  exposition, 
and  never  for  close  scrutiny.  But  our  artist 
disclaimed  such  unworthy  aims  and  methods 
with  the  most  explicit  assurance,  and  through  all 
these  years  of  weary  waiting  has  repeatedly  de- 
clared his  intention  to  execute  a  work  which, 
for  truth  to  nature  and  conscientious  attention 
to  detail,  should  be  as  fit  for  a  museum  as  for  a 
public  park.  How  truly  he  has  kept  his  pledge 
the  critical  public  will  judge.  I  speak,  however, 
from  personal  knowledge  when  I  say  that  every 
single  figure  in  the  group  before  us  represents  a 
living  model,  whose  presence  was  summoned  to 
Professor  Donndorf's  atelier  day  after  day  for 
successive  months  ;  not,  let  it  be  understood, 
for  literal  facial  portraiture,  which  was  never 
intended,  but  for  unerring  guidance  in  the  re- 
production of  form  and  attitude. 


Address  of  Professor   Corning.  19 

I  am  not  aware-  of  any  violation  of  confidence 
in  informing  you  thai  the  sculptor's  own  wife 

and  child  stood  for  this  bronze  mother  with  the 
baby  on  her  arm.  It  is  true  that  the  original 
model  of  the  baby  outgrew  his  proper  size  be- 
fore the  clay  group  was  finished.  But  a  numer- 
ous generation  of  little  Donndorfs  has  been 
coming  upon  the  stage  in  normal  procession  for 
some  years;  and  when  the  first  model  for  the 
baby  in  arms  had  got  into  pantalets,  there  was 
another  live  specimen  at  hand  whose  dimensions 
were  exactly  right.  As  to  the  other  little  one 
running  by  the  mother's  side,  I  happen  to  know 
that  a  city  of  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  inhab- 
itants was  searched  for  a  model  of  comeliness 
and  faultless  anatomy.  A  little  boy  of  fortunate 
parentage,  who  had  in  the  city  of  Stuttgart  a 
neighborhood  fame  for  ideal  grace  of  form, 
stood  for  this  third  member  of  the  group  before 
us.  I  could  tell  the  name  of  this  youthful  as- 
pirant for  immortality  in  bronze,  now7  a  compeer 
with  Alexander  the  Great  and  St.  Peter  and 
Marcus  Aurelius,  and  a  multitude  of  other 
grand  personages  of  history,  but  it  is  full  of 
jaw-breaking  consonants ;  and  besides  this,  the 


20  The  James  Fountain. 

permission  of  the  little  proprietor  of  the  conso- 
nants has  not  been  obtained. 

The  pilgrimage  of  this  comely  group  from 
clay  to  bronze  has  been,  like  the  journey  of 
human  life,  marked  by  vicissitude  and  trial. 
Its  checkered  career  would  materially  contribute 
to  lengthen  the  column  of  accidents  in  the 
daily  gazette.  Nearly  two  years  ago,  for  ex- 
ample, when  we  were  looking  for  a  report  of 
the  approaching  transportation  of  the  plaster 
model  to  the  foundry,  the  fact  reluctantly  leaked 
out  that  the  giving  way  of  an  iron  support  had 
caused  a  serious  break  in  the  principal  figure, 
which  would  delay  the  casting  several  months. 
But  an  almost  fatal  catastrophe  was  yet  to 
come.  The  winter  of  1879-80  was  one  of  un- 
precedented severity  in  Stuttgart,  the  mercury 
going  down  on  several  occasions  below  zero — 
a  circumstance  almost  unheard  of  in  the  sheltered 
valley  of  Neckar.  The  artist  had  nearly  com- 
pleted the  modelling  of  the  entire  group,  and 
was  putting  on  the  finishing  touches.  Leaving 
his  atelier  at  nightfall,  he  retired  to  his  home 
with  bright  visions  of  the  near  fulfillment  of  his 
long-cherished  hopes. 


Address  of  Professor  Corning.  21 

On  that  fatal  nighl  the  winter  winds  held 
high  carnival  in  the  Swabian  capital,  and  the 
hitter  frost  mocked  at  hickory  and  anthracite. 
Fearful  of  the  welfare  of  his  treasures,  not  yet 
moulded  from  moist  clay  into  solid  plaster,  the 
ill-starred  sculptor  hastened  in  the  early  morn- 
ing to  his  atelier  only  to  find  the  group,  upon 
which  he  had  expended  two  years  of  toil,  lying 
a  heap  of  shapeless  lumps  and  morsels  on  the 
floor!  Frost,  without  bar  or  battle-axe,  had 
been  the  iconoclast,  more  merciless  than  ancient 
vandals  in  the  halls  of  the  Caesars.  Brave  of 
heart,  as  is  every  worthy  toiler  for  the  weal  of 
mankind,  the  artist  began  his  task  again,  re- 
tracing his  weary  steps,  watered,  I  doubt  not, 
with  tears,  almost  from  the  very  beginning.  At 
last,  in  the  spring  of  the  present  year,  the 
polished  blocks  of  this  granite  pedestal  came 
across  the  sea  from  the  Swedish  quarries,  the 
harbingers  of  another  advent ;  and  while  the 
summer  was  at  its  full,  a  ship,  laden  with  apolo- 
gies for  long  procrastination,  brought  the  bronze 
group  and  postament  to  our  shores,  and  the 
final  barrier  to  the  festivities  of  to-day  was  re- 
moved. 


22  The  James  Fountain. 

Such,  briefly,  is  the  story  of  the  gift  which  we 
now  gratefully  welcome  to  its  place  of  honor  in 
the  heart  of  the  metropolis.  '  I  am  not  here  to 
applaud  either  the  giver  or  his  offering.  But  it 
is  a  solace  and  a  joy  to  think  that,  long  after  the 
present  generation  has  passed  away,  this  comely 
work  shall  stand  here,  a  minister  to  human 
need,  a  teacher  in  its  own  degree  of  artistic 
truth  and  grace,  and  a  silent  yet  eloquent  preacher 
of  the  institutes  and  benedictions  of  Christian 
charity. 

The  proceedings  closed  with  the  following 
address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hitchcock  : 


ADDRESS  OF 

DR.     HITCHCOCK. 

In  Oriental  countries,  where  the  summer  is 
six  months  long,  without  clouds  or  rain,  natural 
fountains  of  cool,  sweet  water  have  a  value  and 
a  charm  unknown  to  us.  In  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage, for  example,  the  word  rendered  "  fount- 
ain "  in  our  English  Bible  means  also  an  "  eye." 


Address  of  Dr.   Hitchcock.  23 

A  fountain  like  that  of  Elisha  near  Jericho, 
bursting  from  the  earth  and  sparkling  in  the 
sunshine,  is  more  than  so  much  water  for  men 
and  cattle  ;  it  is  the  eye  of  the  landscape. 

Hunger  and  thirst  are  our  two  great  appetites  ; 
food  and  drink  our  two  most  urgent  wants. 
Thirst,  we  are  told,  is  not  quite  so  simple,  nor 
quitc  so  easily  explained,  as  hunger.  At  all 
events,  extreme  thirst  is  harder  to  bear  than  ex- 
treme hunger.  The  desert  caravan,  the  wounded 
soldier,  the  child  burning  with  fever,  know  what 
thirst  is,  and  ask  only  for  water  to  quench  it. 

Those  of  us  that  were  born  and  brought  up 
in  the  country  will  always  remember  some 
things.  We  shall  always  remember  just  how 
the  water  tasted  out  of  that  spring  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill,  out  of  that  old  oaken  bucket  in 
grandfather's  well.  And  we  shall  never  need  to 
be  told  how  King  David  felt  when  he  asked  for 
water  from  the  well  of  Bethlehem  by  the  gate. 
And  we  shall  always  pity  the  poor  city  boys  and 
girls  whose  first  idea  of  water  was  of  some- 
thing drawn  from  a  faucet. 

It  is  now  close  upon  forty  years  since  New 
York  began  to  be  proud,  and  justly  proud,  of 


24  The  James  Fountain. 

her  Croton  aqueduct.  Rome,  to  be  sure,  had 
many  aqueducts,  fourteen  at  least  in  all,  though 
not  one  that  equalled  ours.  To-day  it  may  be 
well  for  us  to  be  reminded  that  we  have  but 
one,  and  have  outgrown  this  one.  Not  our 
comfort  only,  but  our  safety  is  now  imperilled. 
Prayer  might  bring  us  rain,  but  no  amountof 
rain  that  we  are  likely  to  get  will  ever  make  the 
Croton  River  sufficient  for  our  need. 

The  fountain  we  dedicate  to-day  is  a  benefac- 
tion demanding  our  most  grateful  acknowledg- 
ment. Multitudes  will  be  refreshed  by  it.  Mul- 
titudes will  be  saved  by  it  from  resorting  to 
artificial  and  stimulating  drinks.  And  then, 
beside  all  its  homelier  uses,  it  is  an  ornament  to 
the  city.  As  a  work  of  art,  of  high  art,  it  be- 
comes at  once  an  educator  of  the  public  taste. 
New  York  is  richer,  finer,  and  better  for  it  in 
many  and  many  ways.  I  am  forbidden  to  eulo- 
gize the  giver ;  but  the  city  will  never  forget 
either  the  giver  or  the  gift. 

But  this  occasion  has  a  wider  reach  of  sug- 
gestion and  a  larger  meaning  than  have  yet  been 
named.  What  we  call  the  social  problem  is 
now  pressing  for  solution  as  never  before  in  hu- 


Address  of  Dr.   Hitchcock  25 

man  history.  The  mutual  relations  oi  men,  of 
the  ignorant  and  the  instructed,  of  poor  and  1  ich, 
of  labor  and  capital;  above  all,  the  mutual  re- 
lations of  society  and  individuals,  are  now 
undergoing  the  freest  and  most  radical  discus- 
sion. 

What  men  have  suffered  hitherto,  and  still  are 
suffering,  large  masses  of  them,  is  evident  enough 
and  painful  enough.  Hut  how  to  help  the  men 
we  pity  without  disinclining  them  to  help  them- 
selves, how  to  conserve  and  advance  society 
without  sacrificing  the  individual,  is  the  one 
great  problem  of  the  hour. 

Let  us  be  neither  alarmed  nor  cheated.  The 
present  movement  toward  larger  liberty,  intel- 
ligence, and  comfort  began  in  Palestine  nearly 
nineteen  hundred  years  ago.  The  most  radical 
reformer  known  in  history  is  the  Galilean 
peasant.  The  best  philanthropy  of  our  age,  and 
of  all  ages — best,  because  most  sensible  and 
most  effective — is  simply  Christian  philanthropy. 
Under  free  institutions,  equality  of  condition  is 
no  more  to  be  expected  than  equality  of  mental 
endowment.  Equality  of  condition,  enforced 
by  legal  enactments  to-day,  will  require  to   be 


26  The  James  Fotmtain. 

enforced  again,  by  still  more  stringent  enact- 
ments, to-morrow.  In  the  long-run  there  is  no 
help  for  us,  and  no  hope,  but  in  the  Christian 
sense  of  human  brotherhood,  profoundly  felt 
and  wisely  exercised. 

It  is  one  of  the  best  signs  of  the  times  that 
our  men  of  wealth  are  becoming  so  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  sense  of  stewardship.  In  this, 
as  in  so  many  other  things,  New  York  is  lead- 
ing the  continent ;  one  might  almost  say  is  lead- 
ing the  civilization  of  the  age.  Her  bounty  is 
imperial,  and  more  than  imperial.  Emperors 
only  give  away  what  others  have  earned  and 
saved.  Our  merchant  princes  are  giving  away 
what  they  have  themselves  earned  and  saved. 
Every  dollar  bears  the  stamp  of  industry  and 
self-denial.  Thanks  to  the  merchant  princes 
that  have  had  their  day,  and  have  done  their 
work  ;  hail  to  the  younger  merchants,  now  as- 
suming the  burdens  of  more  eventful  days,  and 
earning  for  themselves  the  same  great  reward  of 
popular  gratitude  and  affection. 


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